How To Burn a Lot of Calories Without Exercising! Part 1

Being a busy shift working father of 2, spare time is not something that I have plenty of.

On top of following my recommended nutrition plan <— Link to Video everyday, in order to maximize my calories expenditure I try and incorporate several calorie burning techniques that are not part of my training regime, but fit easily into my everyday life.

In order to help my readers I have made a list of 20 ways how to burn a lot of calories in your everyday life.

#1) Sleep more:
Sometime this is easier said than done when you have young children, but research has shown that getting less than four hours of sleep over an extended period of time slows your metabolism. Aim for between 7 to 9 hours sleep per night.

#2) Watch less television:
Stop watching television for the sake of watching television. Sure, watch your favorite shows, but I’m sure we have all sat in front of the TV and thought to ourselves: ‘There is nothing on!’, but surprisingly we still sit there and watch ‘Nothing’. Studies have shown that adults who halved how much TV they watch burned an extra 119 calories per day, without actually changing their calorie intake.

#3) Do things by hand:
This one is not always the easiest when you have young kids or are busy with work, but when you can do some of the household tasks yourself. Mow the lawn, vacuum your house, wash your car, Wash your dishes or hang out the washing. It is nice when all of these things are done for us, but if you have the time consider doing them yourself as they take considerable energy to complete. As an example washing your car will burn about 210 calories per hour.

#4) Cook your own food:
We all know it’s usually healthier than buying takeaway, but think of the extra calories you will burn by preparing your food. At the very least you will be on your feet for about an extra half an hour, which burns more calories than driving to the takeaway shop.

#5) Get active socially:
Next time you organise a work social function, pick an activity that gets you moving whilst having fun at the same time. There are plenty of options such as bare foot bowls, ten pin bowling or go-karting. Each of these options burns on average about 200 calories per hour.

10 Day Clean Eating Plan

For a LIMITED TIME we are offering a FREE 10 Day Clean Eating Plan + 10 Days of Coaching via email from Niko.

We hate spam just as much as you

#6) Get yourself a pedometer:
Each day aim to 10,000 steps per day. 10,000 steps equates to about 5 miles (8 kms), which depending on a few variables, such as weight sex and age, can burn anywhere from 250-600 calories per day.

#7) Move quickly:
Ever noticed how fit people seem to do everyday tasks with more speed, whilst overweight people tend to complete the same tasks at a much slower rate? It’s not really any great secret, move your body more quickly and you will burn more calories. Want to move more quickly? When you are walking places during the day, walk like you are late for a meeting.

#8) Walk and talk:
If you can, don’t sit still when you take a phone call. At home stand up or walk around the house while on the phone, at work if possible take the phone call standing up or even look at taking the call on your mobile. Standing burns about 50 percent more calories than sitting. What that means is you can burn about an extra 50 calories per hour by standing and talking on the phone. If you walk while you talk you burn about 85-90 calories per hour.

#8) Walk and Talk!

#9) Try and Relax:
This is probably one of my biggest weaknesses but it is also a big problem when you are trying to lose weight. Stress causes the body to release a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone that causes your body to store calories as fat.

#10) Laugh more:
Whilst on the subject of reducing stress, try and laugh more. If you laugh for 10-15 minutes a day you can burn up to an extra 50 calories. Watch your funny sitcom, read a funny story or even ring a friend that always cracks you up.

#11) Don’t eat in the car:
Unless you are on a long road trip, don’t eat in the car. Eating in the car can lead to mindless consumption of calories, yes sometimes it can be a time saver, but more often than not all you are doing is filling in time while you are sitting in traffic.

#12) Switch on your core:
Every time you are driving and you get stuck at a red light, switch on your core. Not only does switching on your core help you lower back it actually burns calories because you are tensing your stomach muscles. Before long you will be doing it automatically. Red light = Switch on core!

#13) Switch sides:
This one rings true with me because my youngest son weighs a ton. When you are carrying your child or a heavy bag for that matter, every 5 minutes switch sides. This will engage more muscles and burn more calories as a result.

#14) Take 5:
For each hour you spend sitting at your desk at work, get up and move around for 5 minutes. Takes a short walk to get a drink or do some gentle stretching. You will find that it can actually help keep you alert and lead to better productivity.

#15) Take the long way:
When at work, go to the restroom furthest away from your desk, get out of the lift one level early and walk the last flight of stairs to your level, get off your bus one stop early and walk the rest of the way to work.

#16) Ditch technology:
Stop ringing or emailing a work colleague that works on the same floor as you. Get up walk to them and have some human interaction. It frustrates the hell out of me when someone calls me at work and I can actually hear their voice because they are sitting within earshot of me.

#17) Drink cold water:
Your body is hot, with your temperature sitting around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). If you drink a glass of cold water your body has to bring it up to the same temperature as your body. To do this, for every litre of water, your body burns about 30 calories. If you drink 2 litres of water (as you probably should be), you will burn an extra 60 calories per day.

#18) Chew gum:
While you are chewing gum you won’t be grazing on food out of boredom and it does burn a few calories.

#19) Drink a few cups of strong green tea every day:
In addition to caffeine, which studies have proven increases the rate at which you burn calories, green tea contains catechin polyphenols, plant chemicals that may also boost metabolism, according to a study from the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

#20) Heat things up:
Studies have shown that spicy food can temporarily increase metabolism, which results in more calories being burnt. Try adding chilli flakes or sauce to a dish or get stuck into some wasabi or curry.

My suggestion, on top of following a sound nutrition plan<— Link to Video, would be to try and incorporate 5 or 6 of these options into your day. If you can manage to burn an extra 100 calories a day without impacting on any of you spare time, then that is a massive win in your battle of the bulge.

100 calories might not sound significant but it definitely is, here is why, if you can burn an extra 100 calories per day without trying then you will burn an extra 700 calories per week. Given that to lose a pound or half a kilo of fat, you need to burn an extra 3500 calories. The simple maths is after 5 weeks of incorporating 5 or 6 of these techniques, you will burn that 3,500 calories.

For more detailed information in relation to calories and weight loss, click here.

Burning an extra 100 calories per day is pretty easy, in fact you can burn a lot more than that, it all depends on how many of the strategies you employ.

If you are struggling to pick out 5 or 6 strategies in this list that you think will seamlessly fit into your everyday life, don’t stress, this list is only Part 1.

I walk on the treadmill during my favorite show and run during the commercials. This allows me to enjoy my “TV time” without feeling guilty as well as multi-tasking in my “oh so crazy life.” Great tips by the way for the office.. I have started to use them and already feel better about myself especially when I can’t make it to the gym. I also do 100 jumping jacks every chance I get in my office. (Some days more sets than others)

Jessica,
Great idea with the treadmill routine, it sounds like it would be an awesome HIIT session. I’m glad you like the tips that you could use in the office, it’s amazing how a few simply changes can burn of so many extra calories.
-Niko

What you need to do is take a deep breath in. On exhalation focus trying to draw your belly button towards your spine. You won’t be able to maintain this contraction at 100% so ease the contraction off to about 30% of its max. Hope this helps.

Another place of golden opportunity is the shower. If you take quick showers, then engage your core the whole time your in there. If I’m taking a longer one, I’ll make sure to just move around more, even if it’s just some calf raises, or some squats while shampooing my hair. I also used to do sit-ups randomly throughout the day, good for if you have that extra time it really doesn’t take long. I’d make sure to do them before my shower every day, or on my way to use the restroom, or sometimes just whenever they crossed my mind. I mean they take less than 2 minutes to knock out, it really adds up over time.

I like to do jumping jacks or “push ups” against my kitchen counter while I’m waiting on the microwave. I’m not in any great physical shape by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s still something that gets me moving and provides “some” low impact resistance.

Thank you so much for this article. I've never been an overweight human being but I don't like the way I look now as compared to 10 years ago…I'm less active.
I have a funny story regarding standing and burning calories. I design commercial and residential spaces for a living so I have ideas rolling around in my head 24/7. My latest commercial space design suggested all desks and work spaces to be at 36"-42" in height. 36"is the height of your kitchen counter 42" is the standard height for a bar. They looked at me like I was crazy. Desks are 29- 30" in height, requiring a chair to make this comfortable.
Footnote: They make higher chairs to site in so why not make your work space condusive to standing or sitting? That's my theory. I'll let you know if I ever have a client that catches on.
Thanks again!

GREAT article! I've been standing and working at a drafting table for over 25 years. When I get to my desk I have to change chairs and low and behold my feet fall asleep, my back hurts and I can't sit still. When I stand I can work and shift and lean and move and dance and all together have a good time. Maybe I will put an ad together and sponser the idea. Let's see how far I can get.

Correct, these tips are ways to burn calories without doing exercise. My advice is to still exercise when you can, but incorporate some of these tips (I use about 5 or 6) into your everyday life to increase your calories expenditure. As a result you will lose more weight in a shorter amount of time.

I flex my stomach muscles while rocking in my rocker recliner watching TV….it feels like i am doing a crunch. I have lost 3 inches in my stomach. I do other exercises as well but i feel less guilty if i do this while watching TV.

Wow, drink cold water, that is brilliant! I never even thought about a little thing like that. But you never realize all the little ways you can burn a few extra calories in the day and by not necessarily doing anything significantly different than you already do. Great tips, great article, would you mind if I reposted parts on my website?

Thanks for the great tips! Just a couple of weeks ago I started incorporating some exercises at my office, too. I have to make so many photocopies so instead of sitting (or just standing there) for every copy that comes out I do one squat. Now I am getting some extra exercise in by doing over 100 squats while I’m working.

I really like this idea Kerry, I will definitely start doing this! The list was great, and I was happy to know that I do quite a few of these already: making my own meals, always walking around while on the phone, constant house work (hands-on), walk briskly.

Thanks for publishing these. I hope people read these and see how easy some life changes are to improve over all health. I hit my treadmill while I watch Survivor or Amazing Race. Makes you feel like you are there competing with them! By the end of the shows I’m sprinting up hill and hardly know it! My daughter is 5 now but starting when she was 31/2 (she is very tall!) when we’d play in the shallow end of the pool at my parents’ house or the YMCA, while she played close by, I would sneak in some leg lifts and jog in place in the water. When I take her to the park I do stair climbers on the steps of the play set and always get in a good game of tag with her so we are running up and down the play sets for a while. I think some people see fitness and overall health as eating only lettuce and having to do a rigorous workout for two hours each day. I believe if you start small with what you recommend then workup to the bigger workouts and eating better, it will be come a permanent lifestyle change, not just a diet.

Thanks so much for this article! Another thing I have found really helpful is always parking your car towards the back of the parking lot when shopping. This means walking a little further to get to where you need to go but also burning a few more calories along the way.